Satellite Watcher vs ASGuide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Satellite Watcher
Track and identify visible satellites, stars, and constellations. Explore detailed information about celestial objects and record your sightings. Perfect for astronomy enthusiasts and educational purposes.
- Track 150 brightest satellites
- View satellite times and locations
- Record satellite sightings
- Explore 9000 visible stars
- Identify major constellations
- Detailed object information
- Offline functionality
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This app tracks the 150 brightest man-made objects in space, which can be seen by the human eye. Use it to see the time and location such objects can be seen. It also lets you record when you saw each satellite. You can also use this app to explore all 9000 stars visible to the human eye, as well as major constellations. Educational notes are displayed for satellites, constellations and well-known stars. Some of the app's features: * Preview mode lets you browse through future satellite passes, displaying the magnitude, path and time the satellite will appear * Real-Time mode shows you what is in the sky now, with the current location, magnitude and path for each satellite. If multiple satellites are in the sky, it shows them all simultaneously * Tap on a satellite's name to view detailed information including country of origin, launch date, magnitude (brightness), and more * Tap on a constellation's name to view its educational notes * The app lets you keep track of which satellites you've seen and when. You can tell it you see a satellite now, or enter a past sighting * The device detects your location automatically, but you can also enter the latitude and longitude yourself, or your U.S. zip code * Choose which satellite you want to scan for, or all satellites * Choose how many days into the future to scan for satellites, up to 30 days * Choose the minimum elevation for a satellites to be shown * Choose the minimum magnitude (brightness) for a satellites to be shown * Works offline (you should go online to download satellite data once every couple of days) * Displays weather warnings if clouds will be present (in the U.S. only) * Works on iPhone and iPad If you like science and astronomy, you will have great fun spotting satellites! All you need is a clear night with no moon. For best results, choose a location away from city lights. In the beginning, focus on the brighter satellites passing directly overhead. Satellites are visible after sunset (for about an hour) and before sunrise (also for about an hour) when the sky is dark and satellites reflect the sun's light. This is a great educational activity for kids.
ASGuide
Explore the night sky with this astronomy companion. Discover planets, galaxies, nebulae, and more visible from your location. Generate custom viewing lists and preview celestial objects with an interactive sky atlas.
- Discover celestial objects visible from your location
- Generate custom viewing lists
- View detailed observation information
- Interactive sky atlas preview
- Dark mode for nighttime viewing
- Sunrise/sunset and moon phase dashboard
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Discover the wonders visible in your sky tonight. ASGuide (Astronomy Sky Guide) turns your location and observing time into a personal guide to the night sky. Discover visible planets, galaxies, nebulae, stars, star clusters, and galactic regions. Plan an observation, explore from home, or find your next celestial target. Find objects worth viewing and learn more about every discovery: - See what is visible from your location and when to observe it. View rise, transit, and set times. - Filter by magnitude, altitude above the horizon, constellation, object type, and more. - Search by common name, catalog number, constellation, object type, or detailed classification. - Browse the solar system and deep-sky categories. - Return quickly to recent searches and recently viewed objects. - See which planets are visible. - Save favorite objects for future viewing. - Use your current location or select any location on Earth. - Check sunrise, sunset, twilight, and night times. - Follow the current moon phase, illumination, moonrise, moonset, and the next new and full moons. - Open high-resolution imagery and explore objects with the interactive sky atlas. Customize the Home screen with the information that matters to you. Use the dark appearance for nighttime observations, or the standard iOS appearance. Your next night-sky discovery starts with ASGuide.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ASGuide at 4.8 against Satellite Watcher's 4.0. ASGuide also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Satellite Watcher's advantage is ratings volume (59 vs 9) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ASGuide holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Satellite Watcher has 59 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Satellite Watcher's written reviews are positive against 100% of ASGuide's.
Satellite Watcher ships an update every 2 months, ASGuide every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Satellite Watcher | ASGuide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (59 ratings) | 4.8 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 59 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Marwan Shaban | Philip Perez |
Customer experience
Satellite Watcher
ASGuide
Bugs and requests
Satellite Watcher
Reported bugs
8 issues- App crashes or shows black screen after updates
- Incompatibility with iOS 11 and newer iOS versions
- Ground plot graph stopped working
- Star chart misalignment with actual sky
- Incomplete satellite database compared to visible satellites
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- Difficulty changing time to predict future passes
- Only displays portion of sky in some cases
- Text size doesn't remain larger when zooming
Requested features
12 requests- Update for iOS 11+ compatibility
- Apple Watch support
- iPad native version
- Alarm/notification for upcoming satellite passes
- Ability to select multiple satellites to track
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- Daylight pass visibility for bright satellites
- Visible magnitude threshold settings
- Database or link to special satellites (ISS, HST)
- Larger buttons for easier interaction
- Better user tutorial or manual
- Reminder feature for upcoming passes
- Include 'tonight' in days to scan option
ASGuide
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Satellite Watcher
No in-app purchases
ASGuide
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Satellite Watcher free?
Is ASGuide free?
Which has better reviews, Satellite Watcher or ASGuide?
Do Satellite Watcher or ASGuide have ads?
Which is updated more often, Satellite Watcher or ASGuide?
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